Week of Mar 15   Fri 19 Pinnacle Systems new miroVIDEO DC1000 is a dual stream digital video and audio editing solution featuring MPEG-2 technology for under $2500. DC1000 is capable of real time processing of titles and transitions, providing more than 300 real time effects and includes Adobe Premiere RT 5.1, Pinnacle Systems' TitleDeko titling software, Pixélan Software's Video SpiceRack effects and Sonic Foundry's ACID Music software. DC1000 can use analog or DV video and can output in DVD. DC1000 takes advantage of storage efficient IPPP encoding of MPEG-2 video. It allows the user to edit MPEG-2 videos frame-by-frame within compressed groups of pictures. The MPEG-2 encoding system is based on the 4:2:2P@ML standard for video editing. This provides frame-accurate editing based on Group of Pictures ("GOPs"), called "Smart-GOPs". Video is captured as AVI files, stored as IPPP GOP format data, alongside PCM format audio. Although compatible with I-frame only MPEG-2 systems, DC1000's more efficient IPPP format provides the same quality with much lower storage requirements. miroVIDEO DC1000 will be available at a suggested retail price of $2499 and is compatible with Windows 95/98 and Windows NT. Pinnacle Systems will also offer a DV (IEEE 1394) I/O module as an upgrade for the DC1000. <www.pinnaclesys.com>   Pinnacle Systems has also announced the DV200, a low-cost DV-based video capture and editing solution. DV200 includes Pinnacle Systems' DVTools pre-production software application. DVTools features tape scanning with automatic scene detection, visual database logging, drag-and-drop batch capturing, and frame accurate DV device control. DV200 also includes Adobe Premiere 5.1LE for video editing. DV200 has two external and one internal IEEE-1394 connectors and is compatible with Windows 95/98 and Windows NT. miroVIDEO DV200 will be available in March 1999 for a suggested retail price of $599. <www.pinnaclesys.com>   Olympus demonstrated at CeBIT 99 in Hanover, Germany, a prototype of a future 2.5 megapixel SLR digital camera, the C-2500L. The C-2500L features a 2.5 megapixel resolution, 3X optical zoom lens, and external flash support in addition to a built-in automatic flash, a progressive scan 2/3`` CCD and an all glass 36-110mm (equivalency) lens. The C-2500L will be available during the summer of 1999 at an expected street price in the $2000 range. <www.olympus.com/digital>   DV Wired magazine has an article about George Lucas's announcement of an all-digital release of The Phantom Menace to four test screens, and to shoot Episode 2 with digital cameras. This discussion isn't new; for some months there's been talk of replacing film at film theaters with digital files sent via satellite and other technologies. This is just the first big-picture announcement of a test of the technology. <www.wired.com article "Star Wars' Digital Experiment"> Meanwhile, USA Today has an article about using DV for film making. The article covers a number of topics, including Lucas's announcement. A sidebar talks about digital editing, though it's hardware selection (DV cameras, but no Firewire card) seems odd. <www.usatoday.com article "Movies roll with the digital age">   RealNetworks has announced RealPlayer G2 Update 1, an improved RealPlayer G2, including integration of AOL Instant Messenger, consumer choice of RealPlayer download size, RealGuide Explorer Bar for IE5, scalable multicast support, and improved performance for RealChannels and SMIL presentations. <www.real.comwww.real.com>   QuickEditor 6.2, a shareware QuickTime movie editor, is now available. QuickEditor is available for Macintosh (Mac OS) and Windows (95/98/NT) Computers with QuickTime 3 or better, and is priced 35 US $. The new version fixes some bugs and adds some improvements to the interface. <wild.ch/quickeditor>     Thu 18 Ulead Systems announced today the release of Ulead COOL 3D 2.5, a 3D title design program that allows users to create and interact with their projects on-screen in real time. Version 2.5 comes bundled with a dozen new special effects plug-ins as well as support for field-based output and support for Direct 3D acceleration hardware. The primary enhancement to Ulead COOL 3D 2.5 is "Plug-in Madness," a set of 12 special effects that come bundled with the new version. There are: "Frame," Imprint" and "Hollow" effects for manipulating title borders and edges; "Glow," "Shadow" and "Motion Blur" effects for applying to entire projects; and "Bend" for distorting single elements within a title. Other plug-ins included in COOL 3D 2.5 offer new ways of assigning motion to both titles and individual elements. These include: token-based motion effects, which deliver timed sequential changes to the skew, size, position and rotation of letters within a title; "Surface Animation" for building titles that revolve around user-defined shapes; "Path Animation" to move letters or objects along a user-defined line; and "Dance" for making objects bounce around. Ulead COOL 3D will be available late in late March from Ulead's Web site and all major online and retail software distributors. The estimated SRP for the boxed version is $49.95 and the electronic downloadable version is $39.95. <www.ulead.com>   Sharp Electronics has announced the VN-EZ1 Internet ViewCam, a camcorder that employs MPEG-4 data compression and is expected to be on the U.S early this summer. The wallet-sized Internet ViewCam will save up to 60 minutes of video to removable SmartMedia storage media (on a 32 MB card). It comes standard with a 4 MB card. The Internet ViewCam also will use Microsoft Corporation's Advanced Streaming Format (ASF). The VN-EZ1 measures 3.2`` by 3.5'' by 1.7`` and weighs only 5.2 ounces and employs a built-in LCD screen in place of a viewfinder. Specifications and pricing for the VN-EZ1 Internet ViewCam are not yet finalized. They will be announced later in June at the PC Expo trade show in New York City. <www.sharpsec.com>   Microsoft says that its Windows Media Technologies will be optimized for Intel Corp.'s new Intel Pentium III Xeon processor. Microsoft plans for a future release of Windows Media Technologies to contain an updated MPEG 4 video codec that is optimized for the Pentium III Xeon processor. The Pentium III Xeon-optimized MPEG 4 codec in Windows Media Technologies can encode on-demand video up to 40 percent faster than on the previous-generation Pentium II Xeon chip. In addition, the codec encodes live video at 640 x 480 at a rate of 25 fps on a dual Pentium III Xeon 500. The new MPEG 4 codec, including Intel Pentium III Streaming SIMD Extensions, is scheduled to ship by the end of June. <www.microsoft.com web page "Windows Media">   CD-ROM Burned by Burner advertising! Yesterday MacWeek.com had an advertisement banner from Sony that showed their CD-R burner and said it featured USB connectivity; "buy it now" said the copy. Clicking on the banner took me to Sony's website all right, but only SCSI and IDE drives were listed, there was nothing there about the USB burner!   Wed 17 Pinnacle Systems has announced miroVIDEO DC30pro which includes TitleDeko character generator plug-in for Adobe Premiere 5.1, plus 300 Pixélan Software Video SpiceRack transitions, Adobe Premiere 5.1 Full Version, Sonic Foundry's ACID Music, and a video and audio breakout box. miroVIDEO DC30pro supports Windows 95/98 and Windows NT. miroVideo DC30pro allows you to capture video in compression ratios as low as 2.5:1 (NTSC) from either an S-video (Y/C) or composite video sources. miroVIDEO DC30pro will be available in the US in March 1999 for under $1000 (U.S). Current DC30 family customers can also add the breakout box with Pinnacle Systems' new DC ProPak. This is available as an accessory pack for $159 (U.S). <www.pinnaclesys.com>   SoftLock.com has announced an OEM partnership with Integration New Media (INM), a multimedia component developer, that will enable publishers to sell Macromedia's Director content on CD-ROM and over the Web. The partnership allows Director producers to obtain the SoftLock Xtra for Director from INM The SoftLock Xtra Toolkit 1.1 for Macromedia Director will be available free of charge beginning at Macromedia's user conference on May 25, 1999. <www.integration.qc.ca/SLX>   DV Studio Technologies is demonstrating a high-quality, real-time MPEG-2 encoder - Apollo Expert - at CeBit, Hanover, Germany from March 18 through March 24. Apollo Expert is a half-size PCI card that can be installed in any Pentium-based computer and will sell for less than $2,000. It can encode at bit rates as high as 50 Mbps and features ML@MP encoding with 4:2:0 or 4:2:2 Chroma capabilities. The card supports both NTSC and PAL formats with a wide range of resolutions from D1, 2/3 D1, half D1 to MPEG-1. DV Studio also offers the Apollo Express - a Real Time MPEG-2 Encoder Board which differs from the Apollo Expert in that it does not have decoder built-in. Users must install separately a third party decoder board or software MPEG-2 decoder. Apollo Express is primarily designed for encoding only for the prosumer market. <www.dv-studio.com>   Apple has posted a public beta of QuickTime for Java. <www.apple.com web page "QuickTime Java page">   Apple just announced Mac OS X Server which includes a "special preview version" of the QuickTime streaming server. To use the server requires 256 MB of RAM. <www.apple.com>   Interaction 2.5 has been released. It is a companion product to Mac web servers based on server-side XML and other open standards. It includes many improvements such as upgraded user interface, support for Extensible HTML and the W3C DOM standard. It enables pages to be served from an Object Database and enables interactive web pages. <www.in-progress.com>   For Mac users who own a new Blue & White G3 and are having problems with the FireWire ports, you might want to check out the Firewire drivers from Promax. Formerly only available as part of a bundle with Adobe Premiere, they are now available separately for $189. The drivers are said to be better than Apple's, and support the Sony devices that have timing issues with Apple's drivers. <www.promax.com>     Tue 16 Kodak has announced the DC265, DC240 and DC200 plus digital cameras. The DC265 is similar to it's predecessor, the DC260, but features: Faster boot time and faster shot-to-shot processing Triple the burst capture performance: six full size (1.6-megapixel) images, six SVGA (0.8-megapixel) images or 24 standard size (0.36-megapixel) images 16 MB CompactFlash card standard Longer battery life with better power management software and four nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH) AA batteries and charger An additional compression option - "Super" - which offers a lower compression ratio than the "Best" setting The camera makes use of FlashPoint's Digita operating environment and is compatible with FlashPoints DigitaFX application <www.flashpoint.com>. The camera also supports DPOF (digital print order format), which provides a simple mechanism for requesting prints from digital cameras. The DPOF file allows prints, index prints, cropping and text overlays to be specified. The DC265 digital camera, accessory kit and accessory lens adapter will be available in March.   The DC240 is a 1.3-megapixel auto-focus, auto-exposure camera with a built-in automatic flash and a self-timer. A 6X zoom capability (3X optical, 2X digital, the equivalent of a 39 mm to 117 mm lens) offers close-up focus to 10 inches (25 cm), and a 1.3-megapixel CCD. As an introductory promotion for a limited time the company is offering the camera with an accessory kit that contains a card reader (parallel), 8 MB CompactFlash memory card, four Ni-MH Batteries, PCMCIA adapter for a CompactFlash memory card and Image Albuming Software. After the introductory offer, the kit will be available separately. The DC240 and accessory kit will be available in March.   The DC200 plus digital camera is Kodak's lowest priced megapixel model, improving on the performance of the original DC200 in speed, image processing, and power management. The camera features a 39 mm (equivalent) fixed focus lens and an 1152 x 864-pixel image sensor. The lens is threaded to accept standard-mount accessory lenses. In addition to megapixel resolution files, users can select VGA resolution pictures. The DC200 Plus ships with Kodak picture easy software (which supports Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT4.0), TWAIN acquire module, and mounter software that lets a computer view the camera as a disk drive. An optional Macintosh connection kit is also available. The camera will be available in March. <www.kodak.com>   Digital Origin has posted it's DV G3 Firewire enabler which allows G3 owners to use Edit DV 1.5 with the Blue & White Macintosh built-in Firewire port. The new FireWire drivers included may fix the timing problems with Sony DV products, though 400 MHz machines may exhibit gray blocks during playback to the DV device. <www.digitalorigin.com ftp server "DV_Firewire">   Macromedia has officially shipped Fireworks 2, the web graphics tool, even though a demo has been available at their website for a couple of weeks. Estimated street price is US $199. For a limited time, registered customers using the previous version of Fireworks with any other Macromedia product can upgrade to Fireworks 2 for only US $39. <www.getfireworks.com>   Webreference.com conducted a study of 16 different Web graphics applications(Optimizing Animated GIFs by Andrew King.) The study makes for interesting reading. <www.webreference.com "Optimizing Animated GIFs">   Beginning Q2 of 1999, customers who purchase Canopus' DVRex or DVRaptor configurations with video editing software, Ulead MediaStudio Pro and/or Rex Edit, will automatically receive Boris FX 3.5 with their package. Boris FX 3.5 is an integrated 3D DVE and effects module that offers a range of effects including: True 3D Shapes, Curvilinear Distortions, 2D Particles, Fast Blurs, Color Effects, Professional Keying and Pixel Chooser Technology. DVRex-M1 is a nonlinear editing solution supporting DV and analog audio and video formats (IEEE 1394/i.LINK, SPDIF, Composite and S-Video). The DVRex incorporates software and hardware codec technology along with a PCI interface. DVRaptor is a DV editing board with a software DV codec. DVRaptor includes Raptor Video and Raptor Navigator capture and editing software along with Ulead MediaStudio Pro 5.0. DVRex-M1 and DVRaptor support Windows 95, 98 and NT and are available from Canopus and authorized distributors, VARs and mail-order suppliers for suggested retail prices of $2499 and $649 respectively (DVRex with Ulead MediaStudio Pro 5.0 is priced at $2799). <www.canopuscorp.com> <www.artelsoft.com>   Sonic Solutions has announced a new release of Sonic DVD Creator which adds enhancements such as tunable compression, integrated asset management, direct-to-factory Internet connectivity, auto-routing menus, and more. Key additions in this release include: AssetFinder &endash; Integrated asset management technology Reusable templates PlantDirect DVD imaging &endash;DVD image files can be created remotely, over the Internet or an Intranet, using integrated FTP networking technology. Menu creation Tunable VBR &endash; now provides for user-selectable effort-levels, allowing the encoding operator to fine-tune for highest quality or faster throughput, matching each job to its unique requirements. Super Video CD (SVCD) support &endash; produces MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 streams compliant with the new SVCD specification adopted in China. Configurations that include SVCD authoring are also now available. <www.sonic.com>   Pioneer's newly shipping DVDesigner off-line authoring software will be compatible with Sonic's DVD Creator. DVDesigner users will be able to author DVD production templates without encoding video or audio assets, and then send projects to DVD production facilities that use DVD Creator. DVDesigner is a software tool that provides a way to plan and design DVD-video programs before actual on-line work begins. The Java-based application allows users to construct an active, "DVD-legal" storyboard on their own laptop or desktop computer. DVDesigner also assembles a very specific authoring decision list that can be used by high end authoring systems to prepare for eventual compression and formatting (premastering) work. Functions of DVDesigner include title, chapter and multi-angle layout, menu and button design, bit rate budgeting for video and audio, and a simulation mode to test the logic of a program. DVDesigner is a cross platform tool that can be used on both PC and Macintosh platforms. <www.pioneerusa.com>   Pinnacle Systems has completed the acquisition of Truevision, Inc. Under the terms of the merger, Truevision stockholders will receive 0.0313 of a share of Pinnacle Systems common stock for each share of Truevision common stock. Said Mark Sanders, president and chief executive officer of Pinnacle Systems, "Truevision's product lines complement Pinnacle's well. Truevision has invested heavily in its next generation architecture for video editing, particularly in new custom chip technology that is scaleable for high definition television (HDTV) applications. We believe that combining this technology with parallel chip developments underway at Pinnacle will afford Pinnacle competitive advantages in next-generation capture card and video editing platforms." <www.pinnaclesys.com>   Mon 15 Real Networks has released RealProducer G2b and RealProducer Plus G2b for Macintosh (the latter costs $150.) Features in RealProducer G2 include: QuickTime support AppleScript Drag and Drop Batch processing <www.real.com web pages "Producer Plus", "Player">   There's a report of a security loophole in Shockwave 7 which is sending personal information, including passwords, to Macromedia. An updated plug-in is supposed to be available this week. The problem is related to the auto-update feature. There's currently no information posted at Macromedia's website. <www.macromedia.com>   CD-ROM Macrovision Corporation has demonstrated a PC CD-ROM copy protection technology called SAFEDISC. Macrovision already sells protection technologies for VCRs and DVDs. The SAFEDISC technology is a software-based solution that does not require any changes to standard PC or CD-ROM hardware. It is comprised of both an authenticating digital signature embedded on the disc, as well as a multilayered encrypted wrapper that secures the CD-ROM content. The digital signature, which cannot be copied by CD recorders or mastering equipment, is embedded by the laser beam recorder at the time the CD-ROM master is made at the mastering/replication facility. When a user inserts an original disc in a CD-ROM drive, the authentication software reads the digital signature, allowing the program to be decrypted and run normally. If an unauthorized copy is loaded, the authentication software will no longer be able to find the digital signature, and the copy will not run. SAFEDISC includes what Macrovision calls multi-level anti-hacking technology that helps prevent the compromise of its security features. The anti-hacking technology is designed to not only deter consumer copying, but to also help thwart experienced hackers and commercial pirates. SAFEDISC is Macrovision's first copy protection product for the interactive software market. <www.macrovision.com>   Vegas FX has released TOPS HDTV, a vector-based videographics application specifically designed for digital television production. This Windows 95/98/NT-based drawing program supports all 18 video resolutions that make up the new DTV specification. Artists can work with both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios and convert images between all DTV formats. It includes features such as automatic soft shadows and edges, image mapping, text character kerning, ramped transparencies and full support for alpha channel input and output. Images may be exported at resolutions up to 16K x 16K pixels in a wide variety of 32-bit and 24-bit file formats. TOPS HDTV is priced at $999. <www.vegasfx.com> Fireworks 2 review OpenSpace 3D Picture CD Kodak Developers Conference iShell review Digital cameras the right choice? From the Earth to the Moon on DVD Buz Box review Fuse review | Multimedia Workshop | Industry News | Online Reference | Contact Us | Find | Copyright 1999 by Multimedia Workshop. All rights reserved Send news or comments to : news@m2w.net All trademarks, service marks, and graphical logos appearing on this website are the property of their respective owners, and are used for identification purposes only. No endorsement of Multimedia Workshop by the trademark owners is intended or implied.